HAVE CANUCKS FINALLY EARNED THE BENEFIT OF FANS’ DOUBT?
It might have been a wintry weekend, but there are no snow days for this morning’s musings and meditations on the world of sports.
■ As per head coach Travis Green, the Canucks painted a barn in St. Paul, Minn., on Sunday, but their 4-1 win over the Wild is precisely the kind of victory — dare we say it — indicative of a playoff team.
In the second game of a backto-back, the Canucks put up a stout defensive effort for 58 minutes, then turned things over to goalie Jacob Markstrom for the final two. They didn’t exactly light the world on fire offensively, but their big guns made an impact. And Green was able to roll four lines and three sets of defencemen.
After the two stink bombs dropped in Florida, there was a sinking feeling that the Canucks were headed on one of those prolonged slumps that has wiped out each of their last four seasons. That fear has been calmed for the moment, but here’s the larger question: Has this team finally earned the benefit of the doubt? At the very least, they’re getting there. Their goaltending has been outstanding, they’re second in the West in goals scored, they have the NHL’s fifth-ranked power play and they have six players in double digits in goals.
That doesn’t mean they’ll make the playoffs. But the faithful can stop wondering if the bottom is going to fall out for this team. You couldn’t say that before this season. You can say it now.
■ A look at the NHL awards races through the midway point of the season:
Hart Trophy: It’s come to mean the best player in the league and Connor McDavid has his nose out in front of Nathan MacKinnon. Auston Matthews leads in the all-important what-everybody-in-Toronto-thinks category.
Norris: John Carlson has had a phenomenal season in Washington, but Nashville’s Roman Josi has made things interesting. Two NHL defencemen averaging over a point a game. Who knew?
Vezina: Freddie Andersen. You can throw a blanket around four goalies: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jordan Bennington, Andersen and Connor Hellebuyck. The Maple Leafs’ keeper just has more to do on a nightly basis.
Calder: Similar to the Norris race. Cale Makar jumped out to a big lead, but Quinn Hughes has closed the gap. Interesting one to watch in the second half.
Adams: Sidney Crosby has missed 28 games, Bryan Rust 14 and Evgeni Malkin 13 and Mike
Sullivan still had the Penguins second in their division and fourth overall heading into Monday night’s play.
Biggest story: Coaching. The new millennium finally caught up to the NHL. Traditionalists might not be comfortable with the new standard, but this day was overdue. On a related note, six head coaches were replaced in the first half of the season.
■ Here’s the thing about the whole Matthew Tkachuk-Zack Kassian sideshow. It’s long past the point where the league allowed players to police the game and that’s fine. Kassian has been suspended a couple of games for his beat down of the Flames forward. But how can the league decide Tkachuk’s hits on Kassian, especially the first one, were “legal” bodychecks. It was predatory. The head appeared to be the first point of contact. And Tkachuk left his feet.
If that’s legal, the league owes Raffi Torres an apology and a lot of money, and if you don’t believe me, here was former NHLer Scottie Upshall on Twitter: “For those (sic) U haven’t played the game ... coming down from your wing (as a winger) to hit a vulnerable guy on a wraparound is as dirty as it gets.”
■ Got a shock when I turned on the Kansas City-Houston football game late and it was 24-0 Houston. Fifteen minutes later it was 28-24 Kansas City and I think Travis Kelce scored another touchdown while I was typing that sentence. Or maybe it was Damien Williams. Anyway, I wasn’t as shocked as Houston’s defence by the end of the game.
■ And finally, the Seattle Seahawks’ season ended in Green Bay on Sunday, but, while they had the makings of a beautiful story, Pete Carroll’s team lost any chance to make noise in the playoffs when they lost their final two regular-season games at home.
Or maybe it was losing their three running backs late in the season. Whatever the case, the Seahawks weren’t going anywhere without home field and their power running game.
There was just too much Aaron Rodgers, too much Aaron Jones and too much Davante Adams for a bloodied but unbowed Seahawks team. Yes, they managed to punch back in the second half, led by the indomitable Russell Wilson, who had you thinking maybe, just maybe.
But they were never going to beat the Pack with Wilson as their leading rusher and Marshawn Lynch averaging barely two yards a carry.
When they were fully functioning, the Seahawks had a razorthin margin of error. By the end of the season there were just too many forces stacked against them. Not sure if they feel the same way in Seattle, but given their personnel and the injuries they suffered along the way, Seahawks supporters couldn’t have expected much more from this season’s team.